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3 Guinness Cocktails for St. Patrick’s Day

I don’t know about you, but I’m really excited that St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Friday this year. Everyone loves a Friday night and with a fun holiday like St. Patrick’s Day, you’ve gotta embrace the party opportunities. So I’ve decided to seize this serendipitous Friday-and-holiday match up for all it’s worth and invite some friends over to celebrate — Irish style.

What I’m really thrilled about, of course, is my specialty: the cocktail menu! This year I wanted to elevate my Irish cocktail game by utilizing one of the most recognized Irish beers, Guinness.

The fact is, you can’t get more Irish than Guinness. The original brewery was located in the capital city of Dublin, Ireland and was started in 1759. Brewmaster Arthur Guinness purchased the dilapidated St. James’ Gate Brewery on a 9,000-year lease, and 10 years later exported his first barrels of Guinness.

From these first barrels to modern times, Guinness has become quite an empire on its own, brewing its legendary stout and draught beers in even exotic locations like Nigeria and Kuala Lumpur. So, as you can imagine, I had my work cut out for me to work with these fantastic products to come up with some St. Patrick’s Day Guinness cocktails.

After some Gidget Test Kitchen sampling, I decided to focus on using two of the more traditional beers from the Guinness family: the rich and creamy (and distinctively black) Guinness Draught and the Guinness Extra Stout with it’s subtly crisp but roasted barley flavors.

Along with my cocktail research, I was very inspired by the simple cocktails presented on the Guinness website, so I’ll be making two cocktails for my party and saving one for brunch the next day!

BLACK VELVET
To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day I love how the champagne brings out the fruitiness in the beer in this simple cocktail. I’ll be serving this delicious wonder as guests arrive because I absolutely love a little bubbly to get the party started!

HOW TO MAKE IT ::Pour champagne to fill glass just a bit over halfway.Add Guinness to fill.Note: Guinness is much heavier than champagne so if you mix this the other way around it won’t combine evenly and will need to be stirred

WILDE OSCAR ~ The Guinness Old FashionedIf I had to list my Top 5 Go-To Cocktails, the Old Fashioned would be on the list. I’ve morphed into quite the bourbon gal and this bonafide classic is one of my favs. Twisting the recipe to include Guinness for St. Patrick’s Day seemed right up my alley. Using Guinness Extra Stout offsets some of the sweetness in the drink and Bulliet Bourbon has a nice spicy note (due to the rye content) which pairs well with the stout. I found this right off the Guinness site, and can’t wait to serve these little gems!

HOW TO MAKE IT ::Add ice to mixing glass and add all ingredients.Using cocktail spoon stir until well combined and chilled through (30+ stirs).Strain into ice-filled glass.Garnish with orange zest and Maraschino cherry

GUINNESS BLOODY MARY

A Bloody Mary is the classic brunch drink and it’s fun and easy to make at home. It’s also known to help cure a certain headache the morning after a good St. Patrick’s Day party (wink). While this vodka cocktail has endless variations, I fell in love with the addition of Guinness and am planning on keeping the St. Patrick’s Day mood going well into my Saturday morning!

HOW TO MAKE IT ::Add all ingredients except the beer into an ice filled shaker and shake until chilled.Strain into ice-filled glasses.Add Guinness Draught and stir with cocktail spoon to combine.Garnish with celery stalk and lemon wheel.

Regardless of how you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year, remember that it’s a Friday night and a time to have a little fun Irish-style! So grab a little Guinness and get into the Irish state of mind.